Israel-Palestine conflict

As the Israel-Iran ceasefire staggered into effect on Tuesday, all of the combatants launched a plausible argument for victory.

In the United States, President Donald Trump claimed that both his diplomatic and military interventions had largely been responsible for halting the fighting, while the leaders of Iran and Israel each claimed to have secured a decisive win in a regional contest that dates back decades.

In Israel, however, the emerging narrative is that the end result of the conflict with Iran has solidified the position of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Just two weeks ago, Netanyahu was in real trouble. On the night before he ordered the unilateral strike on regional nemesis Iran, his governing coalition was only able to survive thanks to a last-minute deal with dissenting members. Public and political opinion had also appeared to have turned against his war on Gaza, and internationally, Israel’s allies were beginning to protest the blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

Now, he can argue that he has severely weakened Israel’s most dangerous regional enemy, Iran, and he claims that its nuclear programme has been destroyed and sent “down the drain”.

The Iran threat

Buoyed by rising poll numbers and the sense of having successfully confronted Iran, Netanyahu may, according to reports in Israel, seek to take advantage politically and call snap elections.

Having built up the threat of Iran over three decades, and repeatedly warned that his country’s principal bogeyman was about to build a nuclear weapon despite Tehran’s denials, Netanyahu can now take advantage of being seen as the man who ended that threat.

“Entire generations have grown up in Israel with this fear of Iran,” Israeli political scientist Ori Goldberg said. “There’s a foundational narrative that there’s this crazy state out there that, without any logic or reason, wants to destroy us.”

“My oldest daughter is 22 now, and has never known anything else,” Goldberg said. “Netanyahu is now getting the credit for having confronted that.”

In a video statement released earlier today, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich framed the conflict in characteristically apocalyptic terms, telling his social media followers, “The State of Israel has defeated in the last twelve days the empire of evil that threatened the entire world and sought the destruction of Israel.”

That argument is supported by much of the Israeli public – which has largely supported right-wing and far-right parties in recent years.

“Netanyahu is stronger than ever,” Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster and former political aide to several senior Israeli political figures, including Netanyahu, told Al Jazeera. “No one’s going to bring him down, no one’s going to challenge him, not his opponents, not his detractors, nobody.”

“He showed that Israel can go it alone. He held off, before American help, then continued alone. Bennett, Lapid can’t challenge that,” Barak continued, referring to two former Israeli prime ministers, the right-wing Naftali Bennett and the centrist Yair Lapid, who are both opponents of Netanyahu.

Not so rosy

However, how long the Israeli prime minister’s perceived victory will last is uncertain. The Iranian government and its Islamic Republic form of governance remain in place, even as Netanyahu has repeatedly called for its overthrow. Netanyahu insinuated that regime change was a possible result of the conflict between Israel and Iran, and Trump used the term in a social media post on Sunday, before clarifying on Monday that he was opposed to regime change because it could lead to “chaos”.

And despite Israeli claims, it is too early to have a definitive answer on the condition of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes. The former, despite Israel’s effective air defence systems, led to the deaths of at least 28 Israelis during the conflict, while Iran is likely to shroud its nuclear programme in secrecy going forward. Early intelligence assessments are reported to have determined that Iran’s nuclear timeline has been delayed, but not destroyed.

And analysts have previously suggested to Al Jazeera that Iran is likely to accelerate its nuclear programme, with hardliners within the Iranian regime now even more convinced of the need for a plausible deterrent against Israel.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions out there, such as how much uranium remains enriched, or even where it is, but, in the short term, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s been destroyed or not,” Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, told Al Jazeera. “Netanyahu and his allies in the White House will be able to spin it. What matters to them is that Iran has suffered a real physical and psychological blow.”

However, how long Netanyahu may be able to survive on spin alone remains far from certain, Mekelberg added. “Every Houdini eventually comes across a lock they can’t pick,” he said.

Netanyahu’s actions since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023 have arguably made his country’s position weaker in the long term. Israel’s international isolation has increased, with revulsion worldwide at the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza, where it has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians. Netanyahu himself is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, and South Africa has led a number of other countries in taking Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of carrying out genocide in Gaza.

The images of those killed, including thousands of children, and the total destruction of Gaza, have spread on social media in particular, turning many in the West against Israel. This has become particularly noticeable in the US, where even on the right – traditionally a bastion of support for Israel – support for the country has become controversial.

And while Trump has shown himself to be a pro-Israeli president, the perception among many in his “America First” movement that Israel dragged the US into a war against Iran has led to anger and heavy criticism of Israel among many of Trump’s most prominent supporters.

Trump himself publicly reprimanded Israel after the latter planned to launch a large attack on Iran after the ceasefire began on Tuesday. Eventually, Israel conducted only a small and symbolic attack, following what it said was a ceasefire violation by Iran – one that Trump was clear did not warrant a response.

Some indication of the fury that has greeted Netanyahu’s decision to abuse the terms of Trump’s ceasefire was provided by Trump’s former chief strategist and ally Steve Bannon. Speaking on his War Room podcast on Tuesday, Bannon called Netanyahu a “bald-faced liar” and Israel a “protectorate”.

Appearing to address Netanyahu directly, Bannon continued, “You have the gall – particularly after what [Trump] did for you and the grief he’s taken over here – you have the gall … When he said, ‘This is what I’ve done, and I need you to be a partner, I need you to stand down first’, you lied to him. That’s why he’s furious”.

Gaza deal?

While Israel can put the conflict with Iran behind it – for now – the war on Gaza continues, with no sign of Israel finding an alternative force to Hamas to rule the enclave, and no deal to secure the release of the Israeli captives still held in the Palestinian territory.

That may put a wrench in any plans for Netanyahu to secure another term as prime minister in the short term.

“I’m not so sure about snap elections,” Aida Touma-Suleiman, a member of parliament representing the Hadash-Ta’al Party, said.

“The polls are in Netanyahu’s favour, but it’s still not certain. I can’t see Netanyahu going to the polls with Gaza still going on,” she added, suggesting that the prime minister might wait for the summer parliamentary recess on July 26, when he would be freer to negotiate some kind of conclusion to the war on the enclave.

Based on Netanyahu’s attitude towards negotiations over the past 20 months, it is not clear that finding a deal to end the war on Gaza is something he wants. Instead, any deal is likely to require a significant push from Trump – if the US president wants to make one.

“I can’t see how Netanyahu can reach any kind of settlement in Gaza,” Goldberg said. “Everyone’s waiting for Trump to act again … Negotiations with Hamas may start again, but it’ll be Trump that imposes some kind of end to [the war].”

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani called for peace and diplomacy less than 24 hours after Iran attempted strikes on the US’s Al Udeid Air Base located in the country. But he said a “scar” had been inflicted on Qatar’s regional relationship with Iran.

For the Palestinians who have managed to leave, the decision to stay and risk death or abandon their homes and loved ones is an agonising one. Many more are desperate to escape, but have no way out. So what becomes of those who do make it out? How do they carry on after such deep trauma, while fearing for the families and friends they left behind as the war continues? And will they ever truly heal?

Presenter: Stefanie Dekker

Guests:
Safwat Al Kahlout – Al Jazeera producer
Abubaker Abed – Palestinian journalist and commentator

Israeli forces and drones have reportedly killed dozens in the latest attacks on people seeking aid in Gaza.

The violence, carried out as Palestinians waited for aid at distribution sites across the enclave on Tuesday, may have killed as many as 50 people in total, according to Palestinian health workers and witnesses, although figures remain unverified.

The killings are the latest in a wave of daily carnage near aid distribution points established late last month by the controversial Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNWRA) has labelled a “death trap”.

Sources in Gaza hospitals told Al Jazeera that up to 50 people had been killed by Israeli fire near aid distribution centres since dawn, along with 21 others across the territory.

Medical sources reported that at least 25 people were killed in an incident on Salah al-Din Street south of Wadi Gaza in central Gaza, according to The Associated Press news agency. More than 140 other people were injured, 62 of them critically.

Footage posted on social media site Instagram, and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, showed bodies being brought to al-Awda Hospital in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp.

Similar scenes were reported from the Nasser Medical Complex to the south in Khan Younis, following unverified reports that the Israeli army had targeted people waiting for aid on al-Tina Street.

People approaching an aid point in Gaza City were also killed, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reported from the city in the north of the territory, as well as Rafah in the south.

“Casualties were brought to various health facilities, including al-Shifa Hospital [in Gaza City],” he said. “The emergency ward there turned into a bloodbath, and many died waiting for medical care.”

Witnesses told AP that Israeli forces had opened fire as people were approaching the aid trucks.

“It was a massacre,” said Ahmed Halawa, reporting that tanks and drones had fired “even as we were fleeing”.

The Israeli military said it was reviewing reports of casualties from fire by its troops after a group of people approached soldiers in an area near the militarised Netzarim Corridor.

Israel has said that previous shootings near GHF aid sites have been provoked by the approach of “suspects” towards soldiers.

Witnesses and humanitarian groups have said that many of the shootings took place without warning.

‘Death trap’

The killing of aid seekers has become an almost daily occurrence since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) took over the distribution of food and other vital supplies.

The foundation launched its aid distribution programme in late May after Israel had completely cut off supplies into Gaza for more than two months, prompting warnings of mass famine.

The United Nations has refused to work with the GHF, citing concerns that it prioritises Israeli military objectives over humanitarian needs, and condemned it for its “weaponisation” of aid.

The GHF distribution sites have been plagued by scenes of chaos and carnage. More than 400 people have been killed and 1,000 wounded by Israeli soldiers since the GHF aid rollout began.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that the system for aid distribution in Gaza was “an abomination”.

“The newly created so-called aid mechanism is an abomination that humiliates and degrades desperate people,” said at a news conference in Berlin. “It is a death trap costing more lives than it saves.”

In a letter published on Monday, the International Commission of Jurists — a human rights NGO of prominent lawyers and judges — joined 14 other groups in condemning the GHF and calling for “an end to private militarized humanitarian aid operations in Gaza”.

Philip Grant, executive director of Geneva-based NGO TRIAL International, said GHF’s model of militarised and privatised aid delivery “violates core humanitarian principles”.

He added that those who enabled or profited from the GHF’s work faced a “real risk of prosecution for complicity in war crimes, including the forcible transfer of civilians and the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare”.

Among the dozens killed are 13 aid seekers, as NGO warns Israel is also deliberately blocking energy access.

At least 43 people have been killed in various Israeli attacks since dawn as the military relentlessly pounds the besieged enclave, medical sources say, with the overall Palestinian death toll in the war surpassing a staggering 56,000.

Those killed on Monday include at least 20 aid seekers who lost their lives while desperately trying to access food for their families at distribution centres run by the controversial United States- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the United Nations has condemned for its “weaponisation” of aid.

The killings are the latest in a wave of daily carnage, targeting hungry Palestinians who continue to make the perilous journey to the food distribution points. Critics have slammed the sites as “human slaughterhouses” amid a worsening hunger and looming famine crisis.

Israeli attacks on Palestinians near aid centres have killed more than 400 people and wounded about 1,000 since the GHF began distributions on May 27.

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Israel is engaged in its conflict with Iran while it also continues “the killing of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip with deadly air strikes on tents or residential homes”.

“Hungry crowds gather at food distribution centres in Rafah or the Netzarim Corridor. So far, 13 aid seekers have been shot dead today. They are among 30 people killed by Israel’s military since the early hours,” Mahmoud said.

Meanwhile, the Wafa news agency reported that at least four people were killed and several others wounded by an Israeli air attack on a residential building in northern Gaza’s Jabalia.

Three others, all brothers, were killed by Israeli forces while they were inspecting their damaged home in the al-Salateen area of Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.

In central Gaza, al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp announced it had received the bodies of two Palestinians and treated 35 others injured in Israeli strikes on crowds gathered along Salah al-Din Street.

Sixteen of the wounded were in critical condition and transferred to other hospitals in the central governorate, Wafa said.

Israeli artillery also shelled the Shujayea neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City.

The latest casualty figures bring the number of people killed in the territory since the start of Israel’s 20-month war more than 56,000, with at least 131,559 wounded.

Energy crisis

The attacks come as the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned that the lack of reliable energy sources is a key threat to survival in Gaza.

The “deliberate denial of energy access”, like electricity and fuel, “undermines fundamental human needs” in the enclave, the NRC said in a new report.

Israel has maintained a crippling aid blockade on Gaza, sealing vital border crossings, and preventing the entry of aid spanning from food, to medical supplies and much-needed fuel.

“In Gaza, energy is not about convenience – it’s about survival,” Benedicte Giaever, executive director of NORCAP, which is part of NRC, said.

“When families can’t cook, when hospitals go dark and when water pumps stop running, the consequences are immediate and devastating. The international community must prioritise energy in all humanitarian efforts,” she added.

NRC’s report noted that without power, healthcare facilities in Gaza have been adversely affected, with emergency surgeries having to be delayed, and ventilators, incubators and dialysis machines unable to function.

British government will use antiterrorism laws to ban campaign organisation in the wake of damage to planes by activists.

The British government has said it will deploy antiterrorism laws to ban Palestine Action, a prominent campaign organisation that has protested against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and the United Kingdom’s role in supporting it, in the wake of its activists damaging two military planes.

Protesters clashed with police in London’s Trafalgar Square on Monday at a demonstration in solidarity with Palestine Action. The crowd moved towards police when officers tried to detain someone, while protesters chanted “let them go”.

The government’s move will make it a criminal offence to belong to the pro-Palestinian group and effectively place them in the same category as Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda or ISIL (ISIS) under British law.

It would be illegal for anyone to promote Palestine Action or be a member. Those who breach the ban could face up to 14 years in prison.

Activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in central England last week and claimed to have damaged two military aircraft to protest against the UK government’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

Palestine Action said two of its members entered the RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire, spraying paint into the engines of the Voyager aircraft and attacking them with crowbars.

“Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel U.S./Israeli fighter jets,” the group said in a statement on Friday, posting a video of the incident on X.

The group said the red paint “symbolising Palestinian bloodshed was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene”.

It said the activists were able to exit the military facility undetected and avoid arrest.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the “vandalism” as “disgraceful”.

There has been condemnation of the government’s move on Monday. Labour Party MP Apsana Begum said: “Proscribing Palestine Action as ‘terrorists’ while continuing to send arms to a state that is committing the gravest of crimes against humanity in Gaza is not just unjustifiable, it is chilling. The ongoing crackdown on the right to protest is a threat to us all.”

Palestine Action called the police response to the solidarity protest “draconian”.

Draconian response by the police at the protest in solidarity with Palestine Action.

They want to ban us, they banned our protest at parliament and now they attack us.

The people will not be intimidated.

WE ARE ALL PALESTINE ACTION. pic.twitter.com/CsmebIriek

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) June 23, 2025

Weekly protests in the UK have drawn tens of thousands of people opposed to Israel’s war on Gaza and its besieged and bombarded population, as well as Britain’s supply of weapons to the Israeli military, which the government says it has suspended but still continues.

NGO Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) found the UK increased its licences to Israel for military equipment after the government announced a temporary arms suspension in September 2024.

The government also refused to suspend the shipment of components of F-35 fighters, arguing it would cause a “profound impact on international peace and security”.

The Norwegian Refugee Council says the ‘deliberate denial of energy access’ undermines human needs in Gaza.

The lack of reliable energy sources is a key threat to survival in war-torn Gaza, an NGO has warned.

The “deliberate denial of energy access”, like electricity and fuel, “undermines fundamental human needs” in the war-torn enclave, a report published on Monday by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) cautioned. The alert is just the latest regarding the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is driven by Israel’s blockade amid its war against Hamas.

Israel halted the entry of food, water and fuel in March, putting the Palestinian territory’s population at risk of famine.

Electricity supply has also been limited. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 2.1 million people in Gaza have no access to power.

“In Gaza, energy is not about convenience – it’s about survival,” Benedicte Giaever, executive director of NORCAP, which is part of NRC, said.

“When families can’t cook, when hospitals go dark and when water pumps stop running, the consequences are immediate and devastating. The international community must prioritise energy in all humanitarian efforts,” she added.

NRC’s report noted that without power, healthcare facilities in Gaza have been adversely impacted, with emergency surgeries having to be delayed, and ventilators, incubators and dialysis machines unable to function.

Lack of electricity has also impacted Gaza’s desalination facilities, leaving 70 percent of households without access to clean water and forcing households to burn plastic or debris to cook, NRC said.

The humanitarian organisation also highlighted how the lack of power has increased the risks of gender-based violence after dark.

“For too long, the people of Gaza have endured cycles of conflict, blockade, and deprivation. But the current crisis represents a new depth of despair, threatening their immediate survival and their long-term prospects for recovery and development,” NRC’s Secretary General Jan Egeland said, urging the international community to ensure the people in Gaza gain access to energy.

Amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, hundreds of people have been killed by the Israeli military as they have sought food and other vital supplies from aid stations set up by the controversial Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

In its latest daily update released on Monday, the Health Ministry in Gaza said the bodies of at least 39 people had been brought to hospitals over the previous 24 hours. At least 317 people were wounded, it added.

Since Israel eased its total blockade last month, more than 400 people are reported to have died trying to reach food distribution points.

The UN’s top humanitarian official in the occupied Palestinian territory issued a stark warning on Sunday over the deepening crisis.

“We see a chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food,” said Jonathan Whittall, who heads OCHA in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“The attempt to survive is being met with a death sentence.”

Move follows campaign accusing Maersk of links to Israel’s military and occupation of Palestinian lands.

Maersk will cut ties with companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank, the Danish shipping giant has said.

The decision follows months-long pressure by activists on Maersk on issues related to Palestine.

Its shipments have come under scrutiny as part of an international campaign led by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), a grassroots organisation. The group has focused mainly on Maersk’s shipments of US foreign military sales, but PYM has also researched the transport of cargo from companies tied to settlements.

A statement on the Maersk website, dated June, 2025, said, “Following a recent review of transports related to the West Bank, we further strengthened our screening procedures in relation to Israeli settlements, including aligning our screening process with the OHCHR database of enterprises involved in activities in the settlements.”

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) database includes businesses involved in various activities related to the settlements, such as providing services, equipment, or financial operations that support the illegal settlements.

When asked for further details on its decision, Maersk pointed Al Jazeera to the statement on its website. It is unclear which or how many businesses Maersk had links to.

Israel has built more than 100 settlements across the occupied West Bank that are home to some 500,000 settlers. These settlements, illegal under international law, range from small outposts to larger communities with modern infrastructure.

“This sends a clear message to the global shipping industry: compliance with international law and basic human rights is not optional. Doing business with Israel’s illegal settlements is no longer viable, and the world is watching to see who follows next,” said PYM’s Aisha Nizar.

But she called for further action, arguing that Maersk still transports goods for the Israeli military, including components of its F-35 fighter planes.

“Maersk continues to profit from the genocide of our people – regularly shipping F-35 components used to bomb and massacre Palestinians,” Nizar said. “We will continue to build pressure and mobilise people power until Maersk cuts all ties to genocide and ends the transport of weapons and weapons components to Israel.”

Last year, Spain banned Maersk ships transporting military goods to Israel from using its ports.

Earlier this month, PYM revealed how Maersk was using the port of Rotterdam as an essential link in what it called a “supply chain of death”.

Despite a Dutch court ruling that prohibited the Netherlands from exporting F-35 parts to Israel, Rotterdam still played a role in Israel’s F-35 programme, the report showed.

In response to those findings, Maersk told Al Jazeera that it upholds a strict policy of not shipping weapons or ammunition to active conflict zones and that it conducts due diligence, particularly in regions affected by active conflicts, including Israel and Gaza, and adapts this due diligence to the changing context.

It confirmed, however, that its US subsidiary, Maersk Line Limited, was one of “many companies supporting the global F-35 supply chain” with transport services.

Israeli forces say they have recovered the bodies of three captives held in the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s 2023 attack, the military said, as its bombardment and attacks in the besieged enclave have killed more than 30 Palestinians, according to hospital officials.

The military on Sunday said the bodies of Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano, and soldier Shay Levinson were recovered from Gaza “in a special operation”.

Samerano’s father had announced earlier on Sunday that his 21-year-old son’s body, which was taken into Gaza after he was murdered on October 7, 2023, had been recovered by the Israeli army.

Keidar, a 71-year-old mother of three, was also killed on the day, while 19-year-old tank commander Levinson “engaged and fought terrorists on the morning of October 7 and fell in combat”, a statement from the military said.

More than 1,100 people were killed and about 250 taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli authorities. At least 50 of those captives remain in Gaza, with 20 reportedly still alive, Israeli media say.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the country’s ongoing conflict with Iran would help it win its war in Gaza and return the captives.

“We are getting closer, step by step, to our objectives: defeating Hamas and bringing our hostages home… I am convinced that the operation in Iran is helping us achieve our objective in Gaza,” said Netanyahu.

Hamas has repeatedly said it is ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a permanent end to the war on Gaza, the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, and the release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

But Netanyahu has rejected the terms and continued his war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed about 56,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children – a brutal offensive that the United Nations, most governments, and rights groups call a genocide.

More recently, starving Palestinians desperate for food and other essential items are being shot, with more than 400 people killed and nearly 2,000 wounded since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial group backed by the United States and Israel, began distributing aid last month.

Israeli forces killed at least 33 Palestinians since dawn on Sunday, six of them while seeking aid, hospital sources in Gaza told Al Jazeera. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said at least 51 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours.

Since March 18, when Israel broke a fragile two-month ceasefire and launched a massive assault on Gaza, at least 5,647 Palestinians have been killed and 19,201 wounded, according to the ministry.

‘The situation is collapsing and deteriorating’

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said Israeli forces continue to target different residential areas across the enclave and aid distribution points.

“Israeli forces continue to attack aid seekers who have been very close to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution points, where at least seven Palestinians have been killed since this morning,” Khoudary said.

“In hospitals here across the Gaza Strip, the situation is collapsing and deteriorating as Gaza’s hospitals are running out of fuel and also medical supplies.”

Medical services in Gaza say ambulances have completely stopped operating in Gaza City due to Israel’s ban on fuel entering the enclave.

The Israeli blockade of food and medicines has pushed its entire population of more than two million to the brink of starvation.

Another Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza on Sunday said at least six people were killed overnight during an Israel-imposed internet blackout that lasted five hours and was accompanied by heavy Israeli artillery firing targeting areas in eastern and central Gaza.

Three of them were killed after a rocket hit a tent housing displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi to the west of Khan Younis city. A man and his wife were killed in another strike targeting an apartment to the north of Nuseirat.

On Sunday, the Catholic Church’s Pope Leo XIV called on the world not to forget the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the conflict in the Middle East broadened with overnight US strikes on Iran.

“In this context that includes Israel and Palestine, there is a risk that the daily suffering of peoples is forgotten, in particular in Gaza and other territories, where there is an ever greater urgency for adequate humanitarian aid,” he said.

As United States President Donald Trump addressed the world on the strikes launched by his country’s military against three key Iranian nuclear sites in the early hours on Sunday, he thanked several people and institutions.

The US military, fighter pilots who dropped the bombs, and a general were among those on his list. So was one individual who is not American, and with whom Trump has had a topsy-turvy relationship: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump also said Netanyahu and he had worked like “perhaps no team has ever worked before”. Those laudatory comments represent a stark contrast from the far more crude language that Trump used for the Israeli leader just four years ago, and their public tension over Iran less than a month ago.

We track Trump’s often-love and sometimes-hate relationship with Netanyahu:

What did Trump say about Netanyahu?

In his televised address on Sunday, during the early morning hours in the Middle East, Trump thanked and congratulated Netanyahu. “I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” he said, referring to a name the Israeli PM is widely known by.

“We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done,” Trump said, adding praise for the US forces.

Trump warned Iran to accept what he described as “peace” but what effectively amounts to the surrender of its nuclear programme, on US terms.

“If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier,” he said. Meanwhile, Israel remains the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear arsenal, though it has never officially acknowledged it.

The US strikes follow nine days of Israeli missile attacks against Iran, including on its nuclear facilities. Israel did not have the bombs needed to damage or destroy Iran’s most secretive nuclear site in Fordow, buried deep inside a mountain.  The US, using its bunker-buster bombs, hit Fordow as well as the facilities in Natanz and Isfahan on Sunday.

Trump’s decision to align himself with Netanyahu in bringing the US into the war with Iran has split his “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) support base.

What did Netanyahu say about Trump?

After Trump announced the strikes and appreciated the Israeli leader, Netanyahu responded with warmer words than the ones the US president had used for him.

“President Trump, your bold decision to target Iran’s nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the United States will change history,” Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement.

He further said, “In tonight’s action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, America has been truly unsurpassed. It has done what no other country on Earth could do.”

“History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world’s most dangerous regime the world’s most dangerous weapons,” said Netanyahu.

The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has publicly said it does not believe that Iran was building a nuclear weapon, an assessment shared by US intelligence agencies, which also drew the same conclusion earlier this year.

However, Trump has in recent days said his hand-picked spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, and the intelligence community’s assessment were “wrong”.

Trump’s “leadership today has created a pivot of history that can help lead the Middle East and beyond to a future of prosperity and peace”, Netanyahu said in this statement.

“President Trump and I often say: ‘Peace through strength’. First comes strength, then comes peace. And tonight, Donald Trump and the United States acted with a lot of strength,” concluded Netanyahu.

How were their ties during Trump’s first term?

Netanyahu enjoyed a close relationship with Trump during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021.

Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, a long-sought symbolic victory for Netanyahu that strengthened his image domestically. Trump appointed an ambassador who was ideologically aligned with Israel’s settler movement, David Friedman, in May 2017.

In March 2019, the US president also recognised Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, becoming the only world leader to back Israel’s annexation of the region that is recognised internationally as a part of Syria.

In September 2020, Trump hosted the signing of the Abraham Accords, which led to normalisation of relations between Israel and four Arab states – Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan.

Trump formally withdrew the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal — in May 2018, through a presidential proclamation that reinstated US sanctions against Iran.

This marked a major shift from the previous US policy of implementing the JCPOA in January 2016 to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump declared the deal “defective at its core”, claiming it offered insufficient assurances and failed to address Iran’s missile programme and regional activities.

Why did Trump sour on Netanyahu?

In a December 2021 Axios interview with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, Trump revealed that his relationship with Netanyahu deteriorated after the Israeli PM publicly congratulated incoming President Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory — a loss that Trump has refused to accept.

“The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with. Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake,” Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. “And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape.”

“F*** him,” Trump said, expressing his anger.

How have their ties been since?

While the incoming Trump administration initially claimed to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, with some observers noting that he may rein in the Israeli military campaign, it soon rallied behind Netanyahu’s continuing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people.

In a joint news conference in February this year, Trump wildly proposed that the US should “take over” the Gaza Strip, redevelop it, and relocate Palestinians⁠ — a plan that Netanyahu publicly endorsed as “nothing wrong”.

Netanyahu also said he was “committed to US President Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza”. Later that month, the US approved $2.5bn worth of arms sales to Israel, including bombs and drones.

In March, Israel resumed major air attacks in Gaza after negotiations over the release of captives collapsed. The White House confirmed that Israel had consulted Trump before the attacks.

On Iran, meanwhile, Trump’s position has seesawed from alignment with Netanyahu to his own distinct positions.

April 12-June 13, 2025: The US led back-channel nuclear negotiations with Iran, mediated by Oman.

May: Trump stated during his Gulf tour that the US was in “very serious negotiations” with Iran and “getting very close” to a nuclear deal, signalling openness to diplomacy. On May 28, Trump said he told Netanyahu to hold off on any strike against Iran to give his administration more time to push for a new nuclear deal. He told reporters at the White House that he relayed to Netanyahu a strike “would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution”.

June 11-12: The IAEA said Iran had not been transparent enough in its nuclear programme, and that elements of its approach were in violation of the country’s safeguards agreement with the United Nations nuclear watchdog. The US began evacuating its regional embassies. Tensions surged as Trump stated that diplomacy was stalling and hinted at serious consequences if no deal was reached.

June 13: Israel launched massive air strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing key nuclear scientists, scholars, and top military commanders.

In the initial US reaction to Israeli attacks on Iran, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, called the strikes “unilateral” and said Washington was “not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region”.

The US-Iran talks over a nuclear deal were suspended. Trump admitted that he was aware of Israel’s plans to attack Iran.

June 19: Trump, after nearly a week of stalled talks and Israeli attacks, signalled support for Israel’s military campaign, though keeping a diplomatic track open for talks with Tehran.

June 20: The US president set a two-week ultimatum for Iran to negotiate the nuclear deal.

June 21: Trump ordered US air strikes on Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, coordinating with Israel. He declared them “completely obliterated”.

See the moment former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who was held for 100 days in a US detention centre, was greeted by supporters after his release from custody. Khalil vowed to continue protesting US complicity in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

United States President Donald Trump has announced the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, as Washington effectively joined Israel’s war against Iran.

“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, using a different spelling for Isfahan.

In a televised address early on Sunday, he said “the strikes were a spectacular military success”.

The US decision to intervene militarily to aid the Israeli attacks on Iran has prompted fears of a serious escalation across the Middle East and brought back memories of the devastation in Iraq following the 2003 US invasion. Israel launched unprecedented attacks on Iran on June 13, targeting its nuclear sites and top military commanders.

More than 400 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Iran, while retaliatory strikes by Tehran have killed at least 24 people in Israel.

Here is what we know so far about the US attacks on Iran:

What areas has the US bombed in Iran?

The US used bunker-buster bombs to target three key nuclear facilities – Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan – using the B2 bomber jets, according to US media reports.

“The strikes were a spectacular military success,” Trump said in his televised address. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” he said, adding that “our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity”.

Al Jazeera could not immediately verify Trump’s claims independently.

Here’s what we know about the three nuclear sites:

Fordow, a highly fortified underground uranium enrichment facility, is reportedly buried hundreds of metres deep in the mountains near Qom, in northwestern Iran. This site is designed to hold up to 2,976 spinning centrifuges, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Natanz is Iran’s largest enrichment complex, containing vast halls of centrifuges, some underground. It has been a key hub of Iran’s nuclear programme and the site of multiple past sabotage attempts – and was hit by Israeli strikes on the first wave of attacks on June 13.

Isfahan is an important nuclear research and production centre that includes a uranium conversion facility and fuel fabrication plants. It plays a critical role in preparing raw materials for enrichment and reactor use.

For years, Israel and the US have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons but Iran maintains its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has also rejected claims that Tehran was on the verge of making atomic bombs, though the United Nations nuclear watchdog has expressed concerns against Iran’s decision to enrich uranium at up to 60 percent purity.

Tehran stepped up enrichment after Trump walked out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal – Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – in 2018 that had capped Iran’s nuclear activity.

What weapons did the US use in Iran?

Trump announced “massive precision strikes” but shared no specific details about the weapons used in the attack. However, US media reports suggested the US army dropped “bunker buster” bombs and navy submarines fired multiple cruise missiles.

The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) is the most powerful bunker buster bomb in the US military arsenal, weighing nearly 13,000kg (30,000 pounds). Bunker buster bombs can penetrate about 18 metres (59 feet) of concrete or 61 metres (200 feet) of earth, which a conventional bomb cannot reach.

The B-2 Spirit, a US stealth bomber, is currently the only aircraft designed to deploy the GBU-57 and can carry two bunker buster bombs at a time, which the air force says can drop multiple bombs sequentially, allowing each strike to burrow deeper.

The US intervention is seen as critical at this point for the Israeli campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities, especially Fordow, due to its depth. Israeli attacks had failed to destroy the site.

While nearly half a dozen B-2 bombers reportedly dropped a dozen 13,000kg bunker buster bombs on the Fordow site, navy submarines are said to have coordinated strikes by cruise missiles at the Natanz and Isfahan sites, according to media reports.

This also marks the first time that the US used MOPs in combat.

What was the impact of US strikes?

Trump claimed “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated”.

Yet there is no independent verification yet of the extent of damage at the nuclear facilities.

Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to the chairman of the Iranian parliament, claimed that the US attack was not surprising and that Iranian authorities had evacuated the Fordow facility in advance.

“Iran has been expecting strikes on Fordow for several days. This nuclear facility was evacuated, no irreversible damage was sustained during today’s attack,” Mohammadi said in a statement posted on X.

Confirming the attacks on Sunday, Iran’s nuclear agency said the radiation system data and field surveys do not show signs of contamination or danger to residents near the sites.

“Following the illegal US attack on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites, field surveys and radiation systems data showed: No contamination recorded,” the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said in a social media post. “There is no danger to residents around these sites. Safety is in a stable state.”

After the US bombing of its key nuclear facilities, the agency insisted that its work would not be stopped.

“The [agency] assures the great Iranian nation that despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies, with the efforts of thousands of its revolutionary and motivated scientists and experts, it will not allow the development of this national industry, which is the result of the blood of nuclear martyrs, to be stopped,” AEOI said in a statement.

The IAEA also did not find an increase in radiation levels near the targeted sites.

“Following attacks on three nuclear sites in Iran – including Fordow – the IAEA can confirm that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported as of this time,” the agency said in a social media post on Sunday.

“IAEA will provide further assessments on situation in Iran as more information becomes available.”

Grossi said the IAEA will hold an emergency meeting on Monday in the wake of the attacks.

What has Iran said?

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US “has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations”.

Tehran has already threatened to walk away from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless, and criminal behavior,” said Araghchi in a statement posted on X.

“In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interests, and people,” he added.

Last week, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had warned the US against joining Israeli attacks on Iran. He said it would “result in irreparable consequences” for the US.

In his first televised address since Israel began its attacks on June 13, Khamenei said Iran “will not surrender to anyone” and “will stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace”.

How will Iran retaliate against the US?

Condemning the US attacks, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday it had the right to resist such “aggression”.

“The world must not forget that it was the United States that, in the midst of a diplomatic process, betrayed diplomacy” by supporting Israel’s “aggressive action”, and is now waging “a dangerous war against Iran”, the ministry said in a statement carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its right to stand with all its might against US military aggression and the crimes committed by this rogue regime, and to defend the security and national interests of Iran,” it added.

Antonio Guterres, the UN chief, said he was gravely alarmed by the US attacks on Iran.

“This is a dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge – and a direct threat to international peace and security. There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control – with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” Guterres said.

Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, the Iranian foreign minister said the time for diplomacy had passed and that his country had the right to defend itself.

“The warmongering, a lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far reaching implications of its act of aggression,” he said.

Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, laid out several options available to Iran in response to the US attacks unfolding. “They can attack US forces directly. There are up to 40,000 Americans within the range, not just of Iranian missiles but of drones and other weaponry,” he said.

“You have the fleet in the Persian Gulf, just off the Iranian coast. They can be vulnerable as well if they attack,” Zunes said, using another name for the Gulf, which is also referred to as the Arabian Gulf. “It could impact global shipping, impacting oil prices and indeed the entire global economy.”

Zunes also pointed towards the “proxy militias in Iraq who could target American bases there”, adding that he would be “surprised if the Iranians don’t target at least some of these”.

On Sunday, Iran deployed one of its most advanced missiles, the Kheibar Shekan, as it carried out attacks on Israel.

Iran might also move towards withdrawing from the NPT. Abbas Golroo, the parliament foreign policy committee head, said Tehran has the legal right to withdraw from the NPT following the US attacks.

Article 10 states that an NPT member has “the right to withdraw from the Treaty if it decides that extraordinary events have jeopardized the supreme interests of its country”.

Adam Weinstein, the deputy director of the Middle East programme at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said the US is now at risk of getting dragged into a prolonged war in the Middle East.

He noted that Iran has already indicated that it intends to continue with its nuclear programme.

“They’ll do it more secretly. They might exit the NPT, and, of course, the Israelis will say, ‘Well, this is why we need even more strikes.’ And there’s likely to be some sort of retaliation by the Iranians, or else the very legitimacy of their regime would be in question,” Weinstein said.

“And so this is how the escalation cycle starts. And so I’m very sceptical that it will be a one-off strike by the US. I think the US is at risk of being pulled into a war of choice with Iran that, unfortunately, it started.”

Trump, meanwhile, also issued more threats against Iran.

“Any retaliation by Iran against the United States of America will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed tonight,” he said on social media, after the attacks against Iran.

Israel and Iran are in the second week of the conflict.

As well as inflicting damage, both countries are putting their economies under strain.

Israel has spent billions of dollars on its war on Gaza and has upped its spending considerably with its largely air-based attacks on Iran.

Iran was already struggling with the years of sanctions and now its oil and gas facilities are being hit.

So can the two nations sustain the conflict? Which is likely to be worst affected?

And will the conflict eventually damage the global economy?

Presenter: Neave Barker

Guests:

Aly-Khan Satchu – Geoeconomic analyst and investor

Eyal Winter – Professor of economics at the Hebrew University and Lancaster University

Nader Habibi – Professor of practice in the economics of the Middle East at Brandeis University

Gaza’s Health Ministry says that in the last 48 hours, 202 people have been killed in Israeli attacks.

At least 26 people, including more aid seekers, have been killed in the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The attacks come as desperate Palestinians under Israeli blockade continue to wait at food distribution points amid an ongoing hunger crisis.

Among those killed during Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave on Saturday, 11 were aid recipients at distribution centres run by the United States-and-Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which the United Nations has condemned for its “weaponisation” of aid.

Meanwhile, Wafa news agency reported that at least three people were killed and several others wounded by an Israeli drone strike that targeted displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza.

The report said that the attack targeted a tent sheltering displaced members of the Shurrab family. The tent was located in an area the Israeli military had previously designated as a “safe zone”.

In the last 48 hours, at least 202 people have been killed, including four recovered bodies after Israeli attacks, and 1,037 wounded by Israeli attacks across Gaza, the Health Ministry reported.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 55,908 people have been killed, and 131,138 have been wounded in Israeli attacks.

Attacks on aid sites

In recent days, Israeli attacks on aid distribution sites in Gaza have ramped up as thousands of Palestinians gather daily in the hope of receiving food rations following a two-month Israeli blockade of aid deliveries.

On Saturday, three people were killed at a GHF site in Khan Younis after Israeli forces opened fire. Several people were also wounded and taken to medical facilities.

Omar al-Hobi, a displaced Palestinian in Khan Younis, told Al Jazeera from a hospital that walking to those sites means you “enter the point of death”.

“I call it the point of death. The tank is in front of us, the machinegun is in front of us, and the quadcopter is above us, and there are soldiers on the ground with snipers. Anyone who moves before the time is shot, and the moment the tank retreats, we start running,” al-Hobi said.

Israel claims its attacks at the aid sites have been to control crowds, but witnesses and humanitarian groups have said that many of the shootings took place unprovoked, resulting in hundreds of casualties.

The Red Cross said on Thursday, the “vast majority” of patients who arrived at its field hospital in the enclave since the GHF aid system began at the end of last month had reported that they were wounded while trying to access aid or around distribution points.

Meanwhile, Wafa, citing the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in the Gaza Strip, reports that there has been a disruption in internet and landline services affecting the governorates of Gaza, which include Gaza City, and north Gaza.

There is currently an ongoing outage in the southern and central areas of the Gaza Strip that has lasted for more than three days.

The three largest European nations by population, Germany, France and the UK, held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, in an effort to avert a protracted war in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump, who has said he will decide within two weeks whether to join the assault on Tehran, denounced the talks with European leaders as a failure.

“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one,” he told reporters.

Araghchi had said Iran was not attending the talks in Geneva to negotiate anyway, only to listen.

However, he added, “There is no room for negotiations with the US [either] until the Israeli aggression stops,” as Iran and Israel traded salvoes of missiles and drones.

The US has been Israel’s chief ally and supporter in all its wars, and is the only country with major military assets deployed in the region, which might be able to alter the course of the war.

Why are the Europeans getting involved?

Germany, France and the UK – referred to as the E3 in the context of Iran talks – helped negotiate a 2015 treaty with Iran.

The 2015 treaty, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saw Iran agree to develop only peaceful nuclear programmes and to submit to independent monitoring. Russia, China and the United States also helped negotiate it, as did the UN.

But Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in May 2018, during his first term as president. The E3 tried to keep the treaty alive but failed. Iran abandoned it a year after the US did.

On Saturday, the EU high commissioner for external action, Kaja Kallas, who also attended the talks on Friday, issued a statement reaffirming “commitment to Israel’s security” and “longstanding concerns about Iran’s expansion of its nuclear programme, which has no credible civilian purpose, in violation of almost all the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provisions”.

But Israel’s war in Gaza has divided the E3 over their approach to Israel, weakening European foreign policy unity further, although all want to avoid another war on Europe’s doorstep.

How are the E3 divided in their approach towards Israel?

The E3 positions on Israel have diverged since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023.

Germany has remained the most ardently pro-Israel, refusing to criticise Israel for indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Gaza and halting its funding to UNWRA, the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees, which Israel accuses of aiding Hamas.

Originally pro-Israel, the UK somewhat changed its stance after Labour’s election victory last year. Earlier this month, the UK joined four other countries in formally sanctioning Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for “incitement of violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Israel called the decision “outrageous” and “unacceptable”.

France is even more sceptical towards Israel. It was one of four EU members that started calling for a Gaza ceasefire in April last year. A year later, on April 9, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would formally recognise the state of Palestine within months, partly because “at some point, it will be right”, and partly to encourage Arab states to recognise Israel. France was reported to be lobbying other European nations to follow suit. Spain, Norway and Ireland all formally recognised Palestine the following month.

What leverage do the E3 have with Iran or Israel?

They are the three biggest economies in Europe, with a collective gross domestic product (GDP) of about $11 trillion.

Two of them, France and the UK, possess aircraft carriers and expeditionary forces that have deployed to the Middle East and North Africa regions. They are also nuclear powers.

Ultimately, though, none of these things is enough to sway either Iran or Israel on matters of national security. The true value of the E3 lies in their “acceptability” to both Iran and Israel as good-faith mediators and their ability to work towards common goals with the US.

“Germany, France and the UK have attempted to mediate for more than 20 years, and their approach has been milder than that of the US,” George Tzogopoulos, a lecturer in international relations at the European Institute in Nice, told Al Jazeera. “The same is happening now. We have a war crisis, and these three prioritise diplomacy for the conflict to stop if possible and for negotiations to restart.”

Could the E3 broker a deal between Iran and Israel?

It would be difficult, given their failure to resuscitate the JCPOA without the US.

“The main reason [the E3 failed with the JCPOA] is the conclusion, made by both the Trump administration, President Trump himself, and the Israeli government that diplomacy cannot work in the case of Iran and, therefore, the role of the three was sidelined,” said Tzogopoulos.

But it is also difficult for them to coordinate with the US. Trump has now sidelined his own intelligence community to adopt the Israeli view that Iran is developing a bomb. On Friday, Trump told reporters that his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was “wrong” when she testified that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had not re-authorised the country’s suspended nuclear weapons programme.

“If Israel has evidence that Iran was dashing for a bomb, I think it needs to come out more publicly and share that, because nobody else is confirming that assessment,” said Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, a nongovernmental organisation based in the US.

“If there is some coordination between the US and the E3, we might be more optimistic, but for Europe, for the E3 to act autonomously, I wouldn’t bet my money on their potential success,” he said.

“The Europeans have very low chances,” agreed Angelos Syrigos, a professor of international law at Panteion University in Athens. “The only people who can intervene seriously are the Americans. But I don’t know if the Iranians are open to that. To have final peace, you usually need a decisive defeat,” he said, referring to the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Egypt of 1973, which led to the Camp David agreement six years later, and US intervention in the Yugoslav War, which led to the Dayton Accord in 1995. “One party has to understand there is no military solution.”

Could the United Nations Security Council find a diplomatic solution?

No, say experts, because China, Russia and the US disagree on Israel and Iran.

“The Security Council won’t find a solution to this,” said Syrigos. “Either the US or Russia or China will veto it. The difference is mainly between the US and China. The Chinese have invested a lot in Iran in recent years. That’s where they buy most of their oil; they send [Iran] materials for nuclear weapons. It’s China that is mostly connected to Iran.”

Russia has called on the US not to attack Iran, because of the risk of destabilising the region. But Russia also does not have the power to come to Iran’s aid, said Syrigos.

“Right now, Russia is going along with the US. It doesn’t want to get involved. It hasn’t the power. So, it’s turning a necessity into a voluntary act,” he said.

“The logic of war will guide diplomatic efforts at this point, and we cannot know how the war will go, or the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear programme,” said Tzogopoulos.

A young boy in Gaza was filmed wailing over the boy of his father, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on Jabalia. Israel’s bombing of Gaza has not subsided despite it’s escalating military campaign on Iran.

Palestinian activist and former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was released after three months in immigration detention, following a judge’s ruling to free him amid growing backlash over Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus protests.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel’s prime ministers have sought to leave legacies that would outlast them — some through war, others through diplomacy, and a few through historic blunders. David Ben-Gurion secured the state’s independence and built its foundational institutions. Golda Meir presided over a war that cost her office. Menachem Begin signed peace with Egypt while expanding illegal settlements. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated for trying to make peace with the Palestinians.

Each leader, in some way, left their mark. But none has ruled as long – or as divisively – as Benjamin Netanyahu. And now, more than ever, the question is not just what kind of legacy he wants to leave, but what legacy he is actually creating.

In 2016, I argued that the Arab world had effectively crowned Netanyahu “King of the Middle East” — a title that reflected his success in positioning Israel as a regional power without making any concessions to the Palestinians. Today, I believe he sees an opportunity not only to consolidate that title, but to reshape Israel’s regional position permanently — through force, impunity, and a strategy rooted in securitised dominance.

Since his first term, Netanyahu has insisted that Israel’s security must override all other considerations. In his worldview, a Palestinian state is not merely incompatible with Israel’s security; it is an existential threat. Even were such a state to be created, Netanyahu has made clear that Israel must retain what he calls “security sovereignty” over all of historic Palestine.

This has never been mere rhetoric. It has shaped his every major decision, none more so than the current war on Gaza. The assault has levelled entire neighbourhoods, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced most of its two million people, and created an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Israel stands accused by human rights groups and United Nations agencies of committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. It is facing genocide charges, supported by multiple countries, at the International Court of Justice. The International Criminal Court has also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

Yet Netanyahu presses on, arguing that Gaza must never again pose a threat to Israel, and that the destruction is necessary to secure the country’s future.

This logic does not stop at Gaza. He has used similar arguments to justify Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, including targeted strikes on Hezbollah figures and the attempted assassination of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Using the same rationale, Israel has also launched strikes in Yemen and made clear that it will act in Iraq whenever and wherever it deems necessary.

The security argument has likewise been used to justify the continued occupation of Syrian territory and is currently invoked to legitimise ongoing attacks on Iran, ostensibly to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and to degrade its missile and drone capabilities.

In every case, the same narrative is repeated: Israel cannot be safe unless its enemies are broken, its deterrence unchallenged, and its dominance undisputed. All dissent, disagreement, or resistance — whether military, political, or even symbolic — is cast as a threat to be eliminated.

Even Netanyahu’s diplomatic efforts follow this logic. The Abraham Accords, signed with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco during his premiership, were hailed as peace deals but functioned primarily as instruments of regional alignment that marginalised the Palestinians. For Netanyahu, normalisation is not a path to peace — it is a way to cement Israel’s position while avoiding a just resolution to the occupation.

What, then, is the legacy Netanyahu seeks?

He wants to be remembered as the prime minister who crushed all resistance to occupation, permanently ended the idea of a Palestinian state, and enshrined Israel’s dominance in the Middle East through sheer force. In his vision, Israel controls the land, dictates the rules, and answers to no one.

But history may remember him differently.

What Netanyahu calls security, much of the world increasingly sees as systemic violence. The global response to the war on Gaza — millions marching in protest, international legal action, growing boycotts, and diplomatic downgrades — suggests that under his leadership, Israel is not gaining legitimacy but losing it.

Even among its allies, Israel faces growing isolation. While the United States continues to provide diplomatic cover, terms like “apartheid”, “ethnic cleansing”, and “settler colonialism” are no longer confined to fringe activism. They are entering mainstream political discourse and shaping public consciousness, particularly among younger generations.

Many commentators argue that Netanyahu is clinging to power merely to avoid prosecution for corruption or accountability for the failures of the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. But I believe this analysis misses a deeper truth: that he sees this moment — this war, this absence of accountability — as a historic window of opportunity. In his mind, this is legacy work.

The tragedy is that in pursuing this legacy, he may achieve the opposite of what he intends. Not a stronger Israel, but a more isolated one. Not a secure homeland, but a state increasingly seen as a violator of international norms. Not a legacy of strength, but one of moral and political collapse.

Netanyahu will be remembered. Today, as Gaza burns and Iran faces strike after strike, there is no longer any doubt about that. The only question is whether his legacy will be one of national security, or one that leaves Israel more alone, more condemned, and more precarious than ever before.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Federal judge pauses Trump’s efforts as the US president says a ‘deal’ with the Ivy League school was in the works.

A federal judge in the United States has blocked President Donald Trump’s bid to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students, delivering the prestigious university another victory as it challenges multiple government sanctions amid a battle with the White House.

Friday’s order by District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston preserves Harvard’s ability to host international students while a lawsuit filed by the Ivy League school plays out in the courts.

Burroughs, however, added that the federal government still had the authority to review Harvard’s foreign admission policies through normal processes outlined in law.

Harvard found itself embroiled in a polarising debate about academic freedom and the right to protest against Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza as its pro-Palestine students demanded full disclosure of the country’s oldest and wealthiest university’s investments in companies linked to Israel and divestment from those companies.

Trump and his allies claim that Harvard, and other US universities that saw similar protests, are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and “anti-Semitism”.

In May, Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security after the agency abruptly withdrew the school’s certification to enrol foreign students and issue paperwork for their visas, skirting most of its usual procedures.

The action would have forced Harvard’s roughly 7,000 international students – about a quarter of its total enrolment and a major source of income – to transfer or risk being in the US without the necessary documents. New foreign students would have been barred from coming to Harvard.

The university said it was experiencing illegal retaliation for rejecting the White House’s demands to overhaul Harvard policies related to campus protests, admissions and hiring.

Trump, who has cut about $3.2bn of federal grants for Harvard and tried numerous tactics to block the institution from hosting international students, said that his administration has been holding negotiations with Harvard.

“Many people have been asking what is going on with Harvard University and their largescale improprieties that we have been addressing, looking for a solution,” Trump said in a post on Friday on Truth Social.

“We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so,” he said. “If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be ‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC, and very good for our Country.”

Trump did not provide any details about the purported “deal”.